1. Field
Example embodiments relate to a surgical robot and a control method thereof. Example embodiments also relate to a surgical robot and a control method thereof which may feed force, applied to a robotic surgical instrument from an external environment (human body tissues), back to a master console without provision of a sensor to measure such force in a slave robot, if the robotic surgical instrument provided on a robot arm of the slave robot contacts the external environment.
2. Description of the Related Art
Minimally invasive surgery is known as surgery minimizing or reducing the size of a diseased part. Differently from open surgery conducted through a relatively large surgical window formed through a portion (for example, the abdomen) of a human body, minimally invasive surgery is conducted by observing an image after a video camera and various surgical instruments are inserted into the abdomen of a human body through at least one surgical hole (or invasive hole) having a size of 0.5˜1.5 cm formed in the abdomen.
Such minimally invasive surgery causes relatively little pain after surgery, allows a patient to rapidly recover intestinal function and resume consumption of solid food rapidly, reduces hospital stay, allows the patient to rapidly return to a normal state, and has improved aesthetics due to a relatively narrow incisive range, differently from open surgery. Due to these advantages, minimally invasive surgery has been used in cholecystectomy, prostate cancer surgery and herniorrhaphy, and application thereof has begun to increase.
A surgical robot used in minimally invasive surgery includes a master console and a slave robot. The master console generates a control signal according to operation of a surgeon and transmits the generated control signal to the slave robot. The slave robot is operated according to the control signal received from the master console.
The slave robot is provided with at least one robot arm, and a robotic surgical instrument is mounted at the end of each robot arm. Here, the robotic surgical instrument is inserted into the body of a patient through an incision point of the patient. On the other hand, the robot arm is located at the outside of the incision point, and serves to maintain the position and pose of the robotic surgical instrument during surgery.
If the robotic surgical instrument contacts an external environment (for example, human body tissues) during surgery, it may be necessary to feed force, received by the robotic surgical instrument from the external environment, back to the master console.